CTC News

£2bn announced for new roads or bigger junctions - with almost none on cycling. Meanwhile, the Department for Transport has announced £15m for 2015-16 to be spent on cycle rail improvements, typically additional cycle parking at railway stations.

CTC isn’t taking sides on whether or not to build HS2 Phase 1 (the proposed high speed rail line between London and the West Midlands), but we do want to make sure that cyclists get the best deal out of the project.

Paul McCartney wrote about the ‘Long and Winding Road’. Well, Merseyside's bus passengers may now be feeling they are living out the song's lyrics after the Mayor enforced a suspension of the city's bus lanes in a bid to ease traffic congestion.

It is the first time this prestigious international event is being held outside continental Europe. The Giro d'Italia 2014 will travel from Belfast to Trieste in 21 stages and route details have just been announced.

A revolutionary automated bike hire scheme and the addition of 2,000 cycle spaces across one operator’s network were some of the achievements celebrated at this year’s National Cycle Rail Awards, sponsored in part by CTC.

New trains - at a cost of £4.5bn - to work longer distance routes have been approved by the Department for Transport. These will replace trains which have reasonable space for cycles. Ensuring that the replacement trains have equivalent space is vital.

CTC is relieved to hear that South West Trains has reversed a proposed ban on all non-folding bikes, just 36 hours after implementing it. However, Southern and Southeastern still have widespread restrictions in place.

Train operating companies banned cycles from many trains during the Olympic Games period, with the worst closures affecting the cycling road races on the 28/29 July. After few observed problems the bans were lifted in time for the Paralympics.

In November 2009, Chris Green and Sir Peter Hall reported their findings on the state of England's rail stations to the then Secretary of State for Transport, Lord Adonis. Included within this were several very helpful recommendations on cycle-rail integration at stations.